My first experience trying Ritual Chocolate has stuck with me because I loved the style of their packaging. To me, the dark green color of their Novo Coffee bar was rustic looking and the minimalistic drawings of trees and mountains were unique and appealing. I also hadn’t tried many coffee + chocolate bars at the time and that bar reminded me of the great flavor marriage the two make when combined.

I’m revisiting Ritual again, this time trying their Madagascar Sambirano bar since the time I ordered from Cacao Review, the Novo Coffee bar was out of stock. The Madagascar bar caught my attention since the flavor notes were listed as raspberry, citrus and peanut. Raspberries themselves and raspberry notes in chocolate are one of my favorite combinations, but to see peanut also in the flavor mix was something I haven’t experienced before.

When I opened the inner wrapper, the bar subtly smelled like all three flavor notes listed on the packaging. The flavor I first experienced was a combination of sweet raspberry with the tartness of citrus. The peanut flavor developed as my bite melted, but it wasn’t upfront as much as the raspberry and citrus flavors were. I kind of had to look for it. Toward the end of my bite some light astringency developed. In the aftertaste the raspberry and citrus lingered. The chocolate melted easily and evenly and the texture was very smooth.

Experiencing berry with citrus flavors happens a lot in my chocolate journey, but to have peanut thrown in was a nice way to mix things up. Even though the peanut was subtle, I think it helped balance the tartness and astringency because many times when I taste a bar with citrus notes, it becomes too tart or astringent for my taste and I don’t enjoy the bar as much as I’d like. I would try this Madagascar bar again, but I definitely want to revisit Ritual’s Novo Coffee bar since it has remained on my mind.

These are my personal thoughts and experiences. I did not receive pay or any compensation for reviewing any products. Website links to articles, companies and other sources of information directly related to the topic written within the posts were included during the time of writing and the writer will not be held responsible for future changes on such website links. All images are original and the property of Time To Eat Chocolate unless specifically stated otherwise.